CN112804873A

CN112804873A - Plant propagation systems, devices and methods

Info

Publication number: CN112804873A
Application number: CN201980059907.6A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 格雷格·劳
Original assignee: Los Tc Private Ltd
Current assignee: Los Tc Private Ltd
Priority date: 2018-07-13
Filing date: 2019-07-12
Publication date: 2021-05-14
Also published as: US20210315164A1; EP3820280A4; WO2020010412A1; AU2019300940A1; BR112021000508A2; CA3107187A1; JP2021531001A; EP3820280A1

Abstract

A plant propagation system is provided that includes a holder for holding at least two plants in a relatively spaced relationship to enable a predetermined operation (e.g., a cutting operation) to be performed on each plant within the holder during a single pass.

Description

Plant propagation systems, devices and methods

Cross Reference to Related Applications

This application claims the benefit of australian provisional application nos. 2018902543, 2018902545 and 2018902546 filed on 13/7/2018, the entire contents of each of which are expressly incorporated herein by reference.

Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to systems, methods, and devices for growing and propagating plants, and more particularly, to systems, methods, and devices for growing plants in plant tissue culture.

The present invention has been developed primarily for growing plants in plant tissue culture, and will be described primarily in this context. However, it will be appreciated that the invention is not limited to this particular field of use, and is potentially applicable in a variety of applications including sterile and non-sterile applications, particularly applications based on greenhouse and outdoor environments.

Background

The following discussion of the prior art is intended to place the invention in a suitable technical environment and to provide a more complete understanding of the advantages of the present invention. However, any reference to prior art throughout the specification should not be construed as an explicit or implicit acknowledgement that such art is widely known or common general knowledge in the relevant art.

Commercial Plant Tissue Culture (PTC) is a clonal micropropagation of plants in the horticultural industry, including household and landscape ornamentals, cut flowers, vegetation restoration, horticultural food crops, medicinal crops and forestry. PTC has historically been an expensive method of plant propagation compared to seed and rootless cutting production (URC) methods, but PTC finds difficult to propagate plants to be produced and niches (niches) for plants that must be supplied in a high state of health.

It is estimated that about 1500-2000 million PTCs are grown annually in australia and about 5 million PTCs are grown annually throughout the world, but this is only a small fraction of the total annual horticultural plant yield propagated via seed or rootless cuttings (URC) or standard cuttings. For example, individual plant breeders and breeding companies can produce more than 5 million URC chrysanthemums in europe each year for cut flower production; more than 8 hundred million sugar cane seedlings are planted annually in australia; approximately 15 hundred million forestry trees are produced and transported from a tree nursery in the united states each year.

In addition to the cost compared to URC, cuttings or seeds, many plants will be preferentially produced by PTC, since PTC crops have many advantages compared to growers' seeds, cuttings or URC, including health, non-seasonality, increased branching and overall early vigor.

For example, in australia, it is estimated that growers grow approximately 160,000 tons per year of high health-certified seed potatoes. These seed potatoes are produced from 1-2 million high health PTC's and then planted and propagated in open air fields for up to 4 years to reduce growers' costs. However, doing so would expose the seed-potatoes to pathogens for up to 4 years while they are expanding. By reducing the cost of the PTC, the using quantity of the PTC is increased, and the generation number of field production is reduced or cancelled, so that farmers obtain more health stocks.

The major cost of PTC is associated with labor, and in some areas more than 80% of the total operating cost per PTC production is production wage. This has led PTC companies to move to lower capital environments.

Furthermore, it is estimated that in developing countries where payroll is below $ 2 per hour, payroll can be greatly reduced (e.g., to 1-3 cents per PTC).

However, the wages in these countries are increasing and are often remote from the markets where the plants are required, so transportation and quarantine is an additional major cost, with each PTC adding 5-20 cents to the consignment sent to australia, and the costs from these countries to other major markets are estimated to be similar.

Shipping delays can have a catastrophic effect on the viability of the PTC [ and URC ] being shipped and can increase costs by 30% a year. This results in a major factor for unreliable provisioning to customers. The international movement of plants is also a major bio-safety risk in all countries and industries, and many new cases of disease have been documented that are introduced into countries by international trade.

PTC-propagated plants from less developed countries remain more expensive to produce than seeds or cuttings produced in developed countries around the market. At present, PTCs from low payroll countries are sold at $ 0.25-0.45 per PTC, compared to $ 0.80-1 per PTC for PTCs grown in australia. In contrast, the average cost of available seeds is less than $ 0.05 per seed, and the average cost of available URCs is between $ 0.10 and $ 0.40, depending on variety and source. All of these products must be grown in a form (i.e., hardened plug) that is usable by the end customer/grower and currently hardened plugs are priced at $ 0.15 to $ 0.40 for seedlings and $ 0.30 to $ 0.75 for cuttings, as compared to $ 0.70 to $ 1+ for PTC.

It has been the goal of PTC manufacturers to develop automated procedures for cloning PTCs to enable production to occur near the market and to allow PTCs to be used as viable alternatives to cuttings production or seed. This would also allow PTC production to be returned to the high-capital countries of the most heavily used clonally produced plants if a competitive PTC production price could be achieved. Returning to high-capital countries would in turn eliminate international shipping and quarantine problems.

In the 1990's, Forbio Pty Ltd successfully built 4 PTC robots using a vision system and robotic arms with a set of repeatable manually operated tools. However, in practice, robots can only reduce labor costs by about half at most; plants still need to be treated separately and still require a high degree of operator involvement. The machine is also very expensive and unreliable. These machines have been operated for about 2 years in Monsanto forest of Indonesia before being set aside.

NuPlant, queensland, australia, produces a Smartclone robot, a robotic arm and tool with a plastic pod system. However, this system still relies on manual work to decide where to cut/segment the vegetation, and manually cut the vegetation. Thus, this machine is again limited in speed by the human operator and does not significantly reduce payroll costs compared to the costs of low-payroll countries.

VitroPlus of the netherlands enables automated cultivation of ferns by a system that utilizes fern gametophytes in a liquid medium system that can be mixed to allow for the mass propagation and distribution of thousands of plants per hour [ sporophytes ] via a sterile liquid distribution process. However, ferns have a very different life cycle compared to other plants, which makes them plantable in this way. This technique has not been successfully used for any other plants than algae.

Nonetheless, VitroPlus is still currently considered by some as the most successful PTC company and exports commodities from its netherlands to most countries around the world.

In addition to robotics, other methods have been tested on a wide variety of crops to reduce the cost of plant propagation. Bioreactors are commonly used, and many of these methods involve somatic embryogenesis in conjunction with the use of artificial seed technology to deliver plants to consumers. Few, if any, of these have been successfully commercialized as clonal propagation tools because somatic embryogenesis often results in unreliable clonal production and many allotypes/mutations are formed with the production of somatic embryos.

Furthermore, the plants grown in the bioreactor often undergo physiological changes, which makes it more difficult and expensive to grow plants after the process. Accordingly, there is a need to provide a PTC propagation system that addresses one or more of the disadvantages of somatic embryogenesis common to other prior art techniques, such as mutation, vitrification, and poor regeneration success.

According to current technology, it is estimated that currently, about 150 and 200 plants per hour can be propagated by one human operator. It is therefore an object of the present disclosure to provide a system that can increase the rate of PTC propagation.

Another disadvantage of conventional commercial use of PTC is encountered during the "out of box" phase. In the unpacking process, seedlings and clonal strains of plants of interest produced and grown in PTC containers in a rich sterile safe environment are removed from the containers and "introduced" into standard plant nursery conditions. Currently, in the unpacking stage, the workers in high-payroll countries place the PTCs received from low-payroll countries individually into one tray. This is another major expense for the grower.

PTC's are typically grown in containers that randomly position from 1 to about 50 plants throughout the area of the container. These plants were treated individually at each stage of PTC. These plants are then manually and usually individually moved into a greenhouse for hardening. Contamination is a major problem, as is the cost associated with traditional PTC and other greenhouse breeding methods due to human handling.

PTC is typically performed in a sealed container with a sterile gel medium that is sterilized and placed in the container prior to use. The container is typically made of glass or polycarbonate with a polypropylene screw cap, either recyclable or in a disposable polypropylene container and clipped on to the cap.

A disadvantage of this design is that it is not possible to replace the culture medium or treat the plants without transferring them to another container, which involves associated high labor and time costs.

Gelling agents can affect plant growth, but most plants that are constantly immersed in a liquid medium (even partially immersed in a liquid medium) often experience physiological conditions such as vitrification (super-hydrated state), which can reduce the ability of the plant to be successfully planted or opened. Temporary immersion systems successfully overcome the drawbacks of gelling agents and constant liquid exposure by introducing the liquid medium into the plant chamber several times a day for several minutes, to allow the plants to absorb nutrients and be exposed to phytohormones, then drain and be exposed to reduced humidity and air drying, so that they do not present any physiological problems.

Most TIS systems use air pressure and a complex two-compartment container or a container with many internal parts to force the liquid medium from the bottom up into the plant compartment, thus requiring an air pump and control means as well as an air filter and robust seals to maintain a sterile system.

It is an object of the present disclosure to overcome or ameliorate one or more of the disadvantages of the current systems and methods, or at least to provide a useful alternative.

Disclosure of Invention

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a plant propagation system comprising:

a holder for holding at least two plants in a relatively spaced relationship, thereby enabling a predetermined operation to be performed on each plant within the holder during a single pass.

In some embodiments, the operation is a cutting operation. In some embodiments, the cutting operation is performed on an individual plant one at a time sequentially. In some embodiments, the cutting operation is performed on two or more of the plants in the holder substantially simultaneously. In some embodiments, the cutting operation is performed substantially simultaneously on a predetermined number of plants in the holder. In some embodiments, the cutting operation is performed on each plant within the holder substantially simultaneously.

In some embodiments, a cutting mechanism is provided for cutting each plant within the holder. In some embodiments, the cutting mechanism has a cutting element that is movable relative to the holder to effect a cutting operation. Preferably, the cutting mechanism is configured or arranged to cut each plant from a direction substantially transverse or perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the stem of each plant when in use. That is, the cutting mechanism is preferably configured to cut each plant, more preferably the stem of each plant, axially or laterally.

In some embodiments, the holder comprises a tray or plate having two or more openings, each opening configured to receive at least a portion of a plant. Preferably, each opening is dedicated to receiving a portion of an individual plant. Preferably, each opening forms a through hole or channel for an individual plant, whereby the plant can grow upwards through the tray.

In some embodiments, each tray has the same peripheral contour or shape. In some embodiments, each tray is generally rectangular in shape. In other embodiments, each tray may be generally square, circular, oval, polygonal, or other suitable profile including irregular shapes.

Each plate preferably has a predetermined thickness. For example, each plate may have a thickness or height of 8mm, 10mm, 12mm, 15mm, 18mm, 20mm or 25 mm. It will be appreciated that the thickness or height of each panel is not limited to the exemplary values listed above, but may be selected to suit a particular type of plant.

In some embodiments, the openings in each tray are the same shape. Each opening may have a regular or irregular shape. In some embodiments, the openings in each tray are the same size. In some embodiments, each tray may include openings of various shapes and sizes. In some embodiments, the (cross-sectional) shape of the opening in each tray is selected from the group including, but not limited to: circular, oval, square, rectangular, triangular, hexagonal, and other polygonal shapes.

In some embodiments, the openings in each tray are arranged in a regular or irregular array or pattern. In some embodiments, the openings in each tray are arranged in an annular array. For example, the openings may be arranged to form a square array, offset array, with alternating rows staggered to a predetermined degree (e.g., 50% of the opening size) such that the spacing between adjacent openings is reduced, so that each plate may also provide additional openings as desired. Preferably, each tray has the same opening profile and pattern.

In some embodiments, the holder comprises two or more trays or plates that can be stacked to form a plate tower. Preferably, each plate has the same shape and configuration. It will be appreciated that the ability to arrange two or more trays or plates in a vertical tower or stack advantageously allows for the construction of through-passages of a predetermined height suitable for a particular plant species, from which plants may grow upwards, by aligning the holes from one tray with the corresponding holes of a second tray and any other trays stacked on the first tray. In this way, a plurality of trays can be stacked on top of each other such that the respective holes are aligned and the associated through passage or passages are formed to have a predetermined height corresponding to the thickness of the trays in the stack of trays.

In some embodiments, each tray is configured so as to be closely received within the base of the bioreactor. In some embodiments, each tray is configured such that its width substantially corresponds to the internal width of the base of the bioreactor. In some embodiments, each tray is configured such that its length substantially corresponds to the internal length of the base of the bioreactor. In some embodiments, each tray is configured such that two or more different stacks of trays can be arranged within the base of the bioreactor, thereby enhancing the flexibility of the planting process and the manner in which the trays can be manipulated and handled in use. For example, the base and trays of the bioreactor may be configured to receive two, three, or four different stacks of trays therein.

In some forms, each tray is sized and configured to be transferred from the bioreactor to the next stage of the growth process, either manually or using existing tray handling equipment (e.g., transfer from a sterile environment to a non-sterile environment). This is particularly advantageous as it avoids the need to transfer plants from the bioreactor tray to a second stage tray such as a greenhouse or outdoor tray. In some embodiments, each tray may have one or more connectors for releasably connecting the trays together in side-by-side and/or end-to-end relationship, effectively forming a larger combined tray. In some embodiments, the first side and/or end of the tray can have one or more first connectors and the second side and/or end of the tray can have one or more second connectors, wherein each of the first side and second side and end connectors are adapted to releasably engage with each other to connect two or more trays together. Such larger combined trays may be advantageously used to make the trays easy to handle, particularly when the trays include plants that are ready for the next stage of development to be transferred from a sterile (laboratory) environment to a non-sterile (greenhouse or outdoor) environment. It will be appreciated that in this manner, trays or modular tray apparatus may be produced that are sized to work within handling equipment (e.g., manual or automated handling equipment) associated with associated downstream processes and systems used in further development of the plant after leaving the sterile environment.

In some embodiments, each plate or tray has a uniform thickness. In some embodiments, each plate or tray may include one or more portions of reduced thickness, thereby facilitating selection and removal of a desired tray or subset of trays from the stack of trays and/or facilitating performance of operations between adjacent trays in the stack of trays. In some embodiments, each tray may include a body portion or central body portion having an opening formed therein, and one or more tabs extending outwardly from a rim of the respective tray to facilitate handling of the trays.

In some embodiments, each tray or plate may have complementary locating elements for locating and releasably retaining adjacent trays in alignment, thereby facilitating formation of the stack of plates and enhancing the structural integrity of the stack. In some embodiments, the complementary positioning elements may include a first positioning element (e.g., a lug or recess) associated with an upper surface of each tray and a second positioning element (e.g., a recess or lug) associated with a lower surface of each tray, such that the first positioning element may releasably engage the second positioning element to position and align the trays. However, it is preferable that no positioning member is formed on the trays so that no obstacle extends between adjacent trays, thereby enabling a cutting operation to be freely performed between a pair of adjacent trays.

In some embodiments, the channel defined by the opening of the tray is used to guide and support the plant as it grows through the channel, if necessary. Preferably, the inner peripheral surface of the side wall of each opening serves to limit the extent of lateral movement of the plant within the channel, thereby guiding the plant in a generally upward or vertical direction. In other embodiments, dedicated guide members may be provided.

In certain embodiments, the holder may include one or more gripping elements or gripping mechanisms for holding each plant. For example, each gripping element or gripping mechanism may include one or a pair of jaws movable between an open position for inserting and removing plants and a closed position for holding each plant. In certain embodiments, the gripping elements may be biased toward the closed position, for example, by providing a pre-tensioned coil spring or other suitable mechanical biasing element.

In some embodiments, the cutting operation may be achieved by relative translational sliding between a pair of plates. In some embodiments, the cutting mechanism may be configured to perform a cutting operation between a pair of plates in the stack of plates. In some embodiments, the cutting mechanism may be configured to perform a cutting operation between each pair of plates in the stack of plates. In some embodiments, the cutting mechanism may be configured to perform a cutting operation between some of the pairs of plates in the stack. In some embodiments, the cutting mechanism may be configured to perform the cutting operation between each selected pair of plates in the stack substantially simultaneously.

In some embodiments, the cutting mechanism comprises a dedicated hand-held cutting tool for manually cutting the vegetation, preferably configured to cut two or more vegetation simultaneously. In some embodiments, the cutting mechanism is operably associated with a controller to facilitate automatic or semi-automatic cutting of the plants. For example, the cutting element may be connected (directly or indirectly) to an actuator to position and move the cutting element relative to the stack of trays to produce the desired cutting action. In some embodiments, the cutting mechanism (e.g., blade, laser, wire element, etc.) may be connected to a linear actuator or as an end effector on a robotic arm.

In some embodiments, the cutting tool comprises a cutting element in the form of a blade. In some embodiments, the cutting tool may include a handle portion, the cutting element being connected to the handle portion. In some embodiments, the cutting tool comprises a cutting element in the form of a relatively thin plate-like element adapted to be slidably disposed between a respective pair of adjacent trays to perform a lateral cutting operation on the plant. In other forms, the cutting mechanism may include a length of small gauge wire slidably received between a respective pair of adjacent trays to effect the cutting operation.

In some embodiments, the cutting element is movably connected to the handle portion for movement between an operative position in which the blade extends generally away from the handle portion and an inoperative position in which the cutting element is adjacent the handle portion. For example, the cutting element may be pivotably or hingedly connected to the handle portion. In some embodiments, a handle is operably associated with the cutting element such that movement of the handle causes corresponding movement of the cutting element. In some embodiments, a handle is operably associated with the cutting element such that linear movement of the handle in a first direction causes a corresponding cutting movement of the cutting element. In some embodiments, a handle is operably associated with the cutting element such that linear movement of the handle in the second direction causes a corresponding retraction movement of the cutting element to retract the cutting element once the cutting operation is completed. In some embodiments, a handle is operably associated with the cutting element such that rotational movement of the handle in a first direction causes a corresponding cutting movement of the cutting element. In some embodiments, a handle is operably associated with the cutting element such that rotational movement of the handle in the second direction causes a corresponding retraction movement of the cutting element to retract the cutting element once the cutting operation has been completed.

In some embodiments, the cutting element is configured to oscillate or vibrate during the cutting operation. In some embodiments, the oscillation or vibration may be in a vertical direction, a horizontal direction, one or more diagonal or off-axis directions, or a combination thereof.

In other forms, the cutting mechanism may include a laser system adapted to pass a laser beam between adjacent trays, or a high pressure nozzle adapted to pass a stream of fluid (e.g., water) between adjacent trays to effect the cutting operation. The laser beam or fluid jet or fluid stream may be applied in a continuous manner on one or more passes across the length of each tray until the cutting operation is complete. In other forms, the laser beam or fluid (water) stream may be applied in pulses, optionally at predetermined time intervals or selectively via an actuator (e.g., a button or trigger) adapted for manual operation by a user. In some embodiments, the cutting mechanism may be adapted to perform a vibratory action on the plant, either directly or indirectly, to facilitate the cutting action, either alone or in combination with one or more other cutting devices or mechanisms.

In some embodiments, the plate or stack of plates is adapted to fit in a container or vessel, preferably an open-top container. The container or vessel is preferably adapted to form a bioreactor for growing plants. Preferably, the container has a base with an open top for releasably receiving the stack of trays therein and a cover releasably attached around the open top of the base thereby closing the container. Preferably, the lid sealingly engages the base around its open top.

In some embodiments, a sealing element is located between the lid and the periphery of the open top of the base, thereby enhancing the sealing engagement between the lid and the base. Preferably, the sealing element is resiliently compressible. In some embodiments, the cover portion includes a channel extending around a periphery thereof, the channel adapted to receive the sealing element therein. In some embodiments, the sealing element is in the form of a continuous ring. Preferably, the continuous loop is configured in a shape corresponding to the shape of the lid. In some embodiments, the continuous loop may be generally rectangular in shape, optionally with rounded corners. In some embodiments, the sealing element has a uniform cross-sectional profile of a predetermined thickness. In some embodiments, the thickness of the seal corresponds to about half of the depth of the channel, whereby a first (lower) half of the seal is received in the channel associated with the base and a second (upper) half of the seal is received in the channel associated with the lid of the bioreactor.

In some embodiments, the base and cover of the bioreactor have the same shape and configuration. In such an embodiment, the base and cover may be used interchangeably, which is advantageous in that there is no need to identify and place separate parts of the bioreactor within a plant propagation system using many bioreactors.

In some embodiments, each cover portion has one or more positioning elements disposed at or near a peripheral edge of the open end to assist in positioning the base portion thereon to close the vessel/bioreactor and/or maintain alignment between the base portion and the cover portion. In some embodiments, each base has one or more positioning elements disposed at or near a peripheral edge of the open end to assist in positioning the base thereon to close the vessel/bioreactor and/or maintain alignment between the base and the lid. In some embodiments, the or each locating element is a lug which projects from the associated peripheral edge. In some embodiments, the positioning element comprises a plurality of lugs arranged at predetermined discrete positions around the peripheral edge of the associated lid or base. In some embodiments, each lid or base includes a pair of lugs, each lug of the pair of lugs being disposed at diagonally opposite corners of the opening.

In some embodiments, the container has at least one port through which a nutrient supply can be filled into the container or drained from the container. In some embodiments, the nutrient supply is in a liquid state.

Preferably, the container has a dedicated inlet through which a nutrient supply can be filled into the container to promote plant growth. In some embodiments, the inlet is disposed toward an upper region of the vessel. In some forms, the inlet may be disposed in the base of the container. In other forms, the inlet may be arranged in a lid portion of the container/bioreactor. In some embodiments, the container has two or more inlets, whereby each inlet can be used to fill the container with a separate component or ingredient of the nutrient supply. Preferably, the container has at least one dedicated outlet through which the nutrient supply can be expelled from the container. In some embodiments, the outlet is disposed toward a lower region of the base of the container.

Preferably, the container is configured such that when a supply of nutrients is filled to the base, the supply of nutrients is concentrated at the base of the container so as to be in contact with a portion of the plant; such as the root system or base of a plant. In some embodiments, at least the lowermost panel of the panel or stack of panels may be positioned within the container such that, in use, the lower or rooted portion of each plant is immersed in, or otherwise in contact with, the nutrient supply.

Preferably, the container comprises a releasable locking mechanism for securely locking the cover to the base in the closed position, thereby facilitating sealing engagement therebetween. In some embodiments, the locking mechanism acts to positively pull the lid and base of the container toward each other, thereby helping to compress the sealing element (if provided) and enhancing the sealing effect.

In some embodiments, a media delivery system is provided that is adapted to be fluidly connected to a container to selectively supply a nutrient supply to an interior (e.g., a base) of the container. In some embodiments, the media transport system is a gravity feed system. In some embodiments, the media delivery system is a pressure feed system. In some embodiments, the media delivery system includes a combination of both a pressure feed system and a gravity feed system.

Preferably, the medium delivery system comprises a nutrient container for containing a predetermined amount of a nutrient supply or one or more components of a nutrient supply. Preferably, a conduit or supply line is provided to direct the flow of nutrient supply between the nutrient container and the bioreactor in which the plants are grown. The conduit is preferably in the form of a length of hollow cylindrical tube. The conduit is preferably connectable at its first end to a port of a nutrient container and at its second end to a port associated with the bioreactor, such that a nutrient supply can be filled into and/or drained from the bioreactor, thereby facilitating a predetermined dosing regime to promote growth of the plant within the bioreactor.

In some embodiments, the dosing regimen may include delivering a single batch or quantity of a nutrient supply to the container, whereby the nutrient supply remains in contact with a portion of the plant (e.g., the base, root, or other portion) for a predetermined time interval, optionally throughout the growing period.

In other embodiments, the dosing regimen may be a temporary immersion regimen, wherein a predetermined amount of the nutrient supply is repeatedly filled into the container within a first predetermined discrete time interval and subsequently expelled from the container within a second predetermined discrete time period, whereby the filling and expelling of the nutrient supply into and out of the container occurs for a predetermined number of cycles and/or a predetermined duration.

In some embodiments, the nutrient container is relatively rigid (e.g., plastic bottle). In some embodiments, the nutrient container is flexible (e.g., a flexible bladder or bag). Preferably, an activation mechanism is operatively associated with the nutrient container, the activation mechanism being configured to move between an active position in which the nutrient supply is forced out of the nutrient container to fill the container/bioreactor and an inactive position in which the nutrient supply is prevented from flowing to the container. In some embodiments, the activation mechanism is a selectively operable nutrient supply valve in fluid communication with the supply line.

In some embodiments using a flexible nutrient container, the activation mechanism is adapted to compress or squeeze the flexible nutrient container or otherwise (temporarily) deform the flexible nutrient container in its active position, thereby forcing the nutrient supply to flow from the nutrient container to the container via the supply line. In such embodiments, when the activation mechanism returns to its inactive position, the activation mechanism disengages or at least partially releases its engagement with the flexible nutrient container such that the nutrient supply is free to return to the nutrient container via the supply line.

In some embodiments, a backflow prevention mechanism, such as a one-way valve or a check valve, is associated with the supply line to prevent backflow of the nutrient supply when the activation mechanism is in its inactive position. In some embodiments, when the activation mechanism is in the inactive position, the nutrient supply can be freely expelled from the container via the supply line, optionally returned to the nutrient container (e.g., in a temporary immersion dosing regimen) or discarded.

In some embodiments, a nutrient controller is operatively associated with the media delivery system, the nutrient controller adapted to facilitate automatic or semi-automatic control of the dosing regimen. In some embodiments, the nutrient controller is adapted to assist a user in manual operation and thus facilitate selective manual control of the dosing regimen.

In some embodiments, the system includes a carrier for sterile handling of the plates or stacking of the plates. Preferably, the carrier is configured such that it can be used to carry a desired number of plates. In some embodiments, the carrier is configured such that it can carry a stack of entire plates. For example, once the plants grown therein have reached a predetermined stage of development or growth, the carrier may be adapted to lift and remove the entire stack of trays from the base of the bioreactor, wherein the removed stack of trays with plants may be placed so as to be able to perform a cutting (or other desired) operation on the plants in the stack of plates. In some embodiments, the carrier is configured such that it can be used to carry a group or subset of the entire stack of plates.

In some embodiments, each plate has a lifting configuration to facilitate engagement with the carrier. In some embodiments, the lifting formation comprises a pair of ridges, notches or openings associated with respective side edges of each plate.

In some embodiments, the carrier includes a handle and a pair of arms extending from the handle, the arms adapted to engage the tray or stack of trays, whereby movement of the carrier via the handle causes corresponding movement of the trays for a desired positioning (e.g., for aseptically removing the trays from the container). Preferably, the arms extend downwardly from the handle so that in use the arms can extend from above into the base of the container and then engage the stack of trays.

In some embodiments, each arm may have a tray engaging formation associated with its distal end. For example, each arm may have a track or lip extending laterally therefrom (i.e., inwardly toward each other). Preferably, each tray may have an arm engagement formation adapted to engage with the carrier, thereby facilitating aseptic handling of the trays. For example, each tray may have a receiving formation, such as a cut-out or recess associated with a side edge of the respective tray, which is adapted to releasably receive a rail or lip.

In some embodiments, the pair of arms are biased toward each other, thereby facilitating engagement with the tray or stack of trays. In some embodiments, an operating member, such as a button or trigger, is operatively associated with the arms, wherein operation of the operating member causes the arms to move away from each other against the action of the biasing mechanism. Preferably, the operating member is selectively operable by a hand or finger of a user.

In some embodiments, a pair of arms are held in a fixed spaced relationship, with a lifting element (e.g., a lug, pin, plate, etc.) arranged and configured to be movable relative to the respective arm (e.g., by a trigger or other user operation) to engage at least one tray to lift one or more trays. The use of fixed spaced arms is particularly advantageous as it prevents relative movement between the arms during lifting, thereby reducing the likelihood of the tray or stack of trays being released or dropped before being placed in a desired safe location (e.g. a cutting station or other station or area used by a plant propagation system).

In some embodiments, the carrier may include means for grasping and moving the tray in addition to the robotic arms, as described above. For example, in certain embodiments, the carrier may include elements for gripping the tray selected from, but not limited to, the following: clamping means, magnetic means, suction means, screw means, etc.

In some embodiments, brackets are provided for holding the stack of trays in relative alignment, preferably vertical alignment, whereby the passageway formed by the aligned openings of each tray is held in the open position.

In some embodiments, the tray includes a bottom portion from which a pair of side edge portions extend upwardly to enable a stack of trays to be received therebetween. Preferably, the side edge portions are spaced apart to an extent such that the stack of trays is closely received therebetween, thereby restricting lateral movement of the trays and maintaining their alignment.

In some embodiments, the tray includes a stop against which the stack of trays can rest, thereby limiting the extent to which the trays can move rearwardly relative to the floor portion of the tray. In some embodiments, the stop comprises a flange extending laterally from each side edge along a portion, preferably inwardly towards the centre line of the floor portion.

In some embodiments, a raising member is provided for raising the front edge of the floor portion relative to its rear edge, whereby in use the floor portion slopes downwardly from front to rear such that the stack of trays tends to position itself against the stop. Preferably, the elevation member is a downwardly extending front lip associated with the front edge of the floor section.

In some embodiments, the base portion includes friction reducing elements for reducing friction between the stack of trays and the base portion, thereby facilitating relative translational sliding of the stack of trays on the base portion, and thereby helping to maintain alignment of the stack of trays as the trays are moved into or out of the carrier. For example, the friction reducing elements may comprise one or more raised friction reducing tracks, preferably at least two raised friction reducing tracks, which project above the upper surface of the sole plate portion. Preferably, the sole plate portion has a pair of parallel friction reducing tracks.

In some embodiments, a divider plate is provided for dividing the stack of trays into smaller sub-stacks after the cutting operation. Preferably, the divider plate is formed as a thin plate structure such that it can be slid between a pair of adjacent vertically stacked trays, thereby forming a platform to assist in lifting a sub-stack of trays from the initial stack.

According to another aspect of the present invention there is provided a system for delivering a supply of nutrients to a growing plant, the system comprising:

a nutrient container for holding a supply of a predetermined amount of nutrient; and

an activation mechanism operably associated with the nutrient container, whereby operation of the activation mechanism causes at least a portion of the nutrient supply to flow from or to the nutrient container.

Preferably, the nutrient supply is in a liquid state, whereby its flow into and out of the nutrient container as required can be easily controlled. In some embodiments, the nutrient supply may form one component of the nutrient supply mix, where it can be combined with one or more other components of the nutrient supply mix according to a predetermined component dosage ratio.

The system is particularly advantageous for use in delivering a liquid nutrient supply to plants grown in Plant Tissue Culture (PTC). Accordingly, the system will be described, by way of example only, with reference to such PTC applications. However, this system has the potential for wide application and can be readily adapted to a variety of other systems, processes and devices for growing plants.

In particular, the present system can advantageously be configured for use in a system for growing various plant types. For example, the system can be used to deliver a nutrient supply under a predetermined dosing regimen to actively promote the growth of various types of plants, including but not limited to tree-like plants and stemless plants. Tree-like plants are generally referred to as arborescent plants, and typically have a single stem or trunk. Stemless plants typically have little or no stem above ground or soil level and are sometimes referred to as tufted or rosette-type plants.

A selectively controllable valve is preferably operatively associated with the port effective to open and close the port to control the flow of the nutrient supply. Preferably, the valve is selectively operable between a first or open state in which the nutrient supply is able to flow through the port (inflow or outflow) and a second or closed state in which the nutrient supply is prevented from flowing through the port (inflow or outflow).

In some embodiments, the valve is configured to be manually operable, thereby requiring manual operation by a user to move the valve between its first (open) and second (closed) states. In some embodiments, the valve is operatively associated with a control unit, thereby enabling the valve to be automatically or semi-automatically controlled between its first (open) state and its second (closed) state. In some embodiments, the control unit may include various interconnected electronic and pneumatic components that operate to selectively open and close the valve. For example, the control unit may be configured to operate the valve based on a predetermined logic algorithm based on, but not limited to, a set time of day, a predetermined timing interval, user activation or input, output of one or more sensors adapted to sense the amount of nutrient solution in a bioreactor or other vessel or within a nutrient container, or to sense a particular parameter (e.g., size-height or width) of a growing plant, or the like. In some embodiments, the valve may not be present.

In some embodiments, the bioreactor port is formed in a sidewall of the bioreactor. In some embodiments, the bioreactor port is formed in an upper portion of a sidewall of the bioreactor. In some embodiments, the bioreactor port is formed in a lower portion of the sidewall of the bioreactor. In some embodiments, the bioreactor port is formed in a base or floor of the bioreactor. In some embodiments, the bioreactor port is formed in a top wall of the bioreactor. In some embodiments, the bioreactor port is formed in a cap, lid, or lid of the bioreactor.

In some embodiments, the first end of the conduit is releasably connected to a port of the nutrient container. In some embodiments, the first end of the conduit is fixedly connected to a port of the nutrient container.

In some embodiments, the second end of the conduit is releasably connected to a port of the nutrient container. In some embodiments, the second end of the conduit is fixedly connected to a port of the nutrient container.

In some embodiments, the second end of the conduit has two or more end connectors or fittings having two or more end connectors, facilitating connection to two or more bioreactors, such that the nutrient supply can be supplied to each bioreactor substantially simultaneously. Preferably, a separate nutrient container is used to provide a dedicated nutrient supply for each bioreactor.

Preferably, an activation mechanism is operatively associated with the nutrient container, the activation mechanism being configured to move between an active position in which the nutrient supply is forcibly filled into the container and an inactive position in which the nutrient supply is prevented from flowing to the container. In some embodiments, the activation mechanism includes a selectively operable nutrient supply valve in fluid communication with the conduit or supply line.

In some embodiments, the nutrient container is relatively rigid (e.g., plastic bottle). In such an embodiment, the activation mechanism may be in the form of a piston movably arranged within the container, whereby movement of the piston in a first direction causes at least a portion of the nutrient supply to flow out of the container and movement of the piston in a second direction is capable of causing at least a portion of the nutrient supply to flow into the container. Preferably, the piston is configured for selective sliding along a longitudinal axis of the nutrient container.

Preferably, the nutrient container is flexible (e.g. a flexible bladder or bag) such that when a compressive force is applied to the nutrient container, at least a portion of the nutrient supply is expelled from the nutrient container via a port thereof, whereby it may be directed to the bioreactor to promote plant growth therein. The compressive force may be applied directly or indirectly to the nutrient container.

In some embodiments using a flexible nutrient container, the activation mechanism is adapted to compress or squeeze the flexible nutrient container in its active position or otherwise (temporarily) alter or deform the flexible nutrient container, thereby forcing the nutrient supply to flow from the nutrient container to the container via the supply line. In such embodiments, as or when the activation mechanism returns to its inactive position, the activation mechanism disengages or at least partially releases its engagement with the flexible nutrient container such that the nutrient supply is free to return to the nutrient container via the supply line.

In some embodiments, a backflow prevention mechanism, such as a one-way valve or check valve, is associated with the conduit or supply line to prevent backflow of the nutrient supply when the activation mechanism is in its inactive position. In some embodiments, when the activation mechanism is in the inactive position, the nutrient supply can be freely expelled from the container via the supply line, optionally returned to the nutrient container (e.g., in a temporary immersion dosing regimen) or discarded.

Preferably, the nutrient container is arranged in use at a level below that at which the bioreactor is located, so that at least a portion of the nutrient supply within the bioreactor can be returned to the nutrient container under gravity, preferably via the same conduit.

In other embodiments, the nutrient container is movable from a first position in which the bioreactor is below or at least below the bioreactor port, wherein the nutrient supply is free to flow from the bioreactor to the nutrient container, and a second position in which the bioreactor is above or at least above the bioreactor port, wherein the nutrient supply is free to flow from the nutrient container to the bioreactor. In such embodiments, the activation mechanism may be adapted to selectively raise and lower the nutrient container. For example, the activation mechanism may include a linear actuator, a mechanical arm, or other positioning mechanism for raising and lowering the nutrient container, as desired. In some embodiments, the activation mechanism may be configured to raise and lower two or more nutrient containers. In other forms, the activation mechanism may be adapted to selectively raise or lower a bioreactor or set of two or more bioreactors relative to the nutrient container. In some forms, the activation mechanism may be adapted to change the position of both the nutrient container and the associated bioreactor.

In some embodiments, the activation mechanism may comprise a force application element or a force application mechanism. In some embodiments, the force application element comprises a substantially rigid member that is capable of contacting the nutrient container to apply a compressive force thereto. In some embodiments, the nutrient container is placed on or against a substantially rigid surface, wherein the nutrient container is positioned between the rigid surface of the activation mechanism and the rigid member such that a compressive force can be applied to the nutrient container by movement of the rigid member relative to the rigid surface.

In some embodiments, the force element or force mechanism of the activation member comprises a gripper or jaw-type device selectively operable between an open position and a closed position, whereby upon movement towards the closed position, the gripper or jaw-type device applies a compressive force to the nutrient container to cause at least a portion of the nutrient supply to flow out of the nutrient container via the port. In some embodiments, the grasper may include a pair of hinged jaws that are movable between an open position and a closed position.

In some embodiments, the activation mechanism includes an actuator for controlling the movement of the force application element or the force application mechanism. The actuator may be a linear actuator, a mechanical arm, or the like.

In some embodiments, the activation mechanism includes an inflatable element, such as an airbag, bladder, or pillow. Preferably, the expandable element of the activation mechanism is arranged, in use, such that upon expansion (i.e. changing from a deflated or partially deflated/semi-deflated configuration to an expanded or more inflated configuration), it abuts against the nutrient container, thereby applying a compressive force to the nutrient container which causes a corresponding change in the configuration of the nutrient container to cause at least a portion of the nutrient supply to flow out of the nutrient container through a port of the nutrient container. The inflatable element may bear directly or indirectly against the nutrient container to exert a compressive force.

In some embodiments, the expandable elements are configured to abut individual nutrient containers, thereby independently controlling the flow of nutrients into and out of the respective nutrient containers.

In some embodiments, the expandable element is configured to abut against a plurality of nutrient containers substantially simultaneously, thereby controlling the flow of nutrient supply into and out of each nutrient container. Such a configuration is particularly advantageous for use in systems employing multiple bioreactors, in which the plants grown in each bioreactor are the same, at the same developmental stage, and/or require the same dosing regimen.

In some embodiments, the expandable element of the activation mechanism comprises at least one receiving formation for releasably receiving at least one nutrient container. In some embodiments, the receiving formation is a bag. In some embodiments, the expandable element includes two or more pockets. In some embodiments, each pocket may be configured to receive a single nutrient container. In some embodiments, each pocket may be configured to receive two or more nutrient containers.

In some embodiments, one or more pockets may be formed as an external pocket of an inflatable bladder of the activation mechanism. In some embodiments, one or more pockets may be formed as an internal pocket of an inflatable bladder of the activation mechanism.

In some embodiments, one or more pockets may include a window, allowing visual inspection of the nutrient containers received therein. In some embodiments, one or more pockets may be formed of a transparent (flexible) material.

In some embodiments, each pocket has a single opening for insertion of (and removal of) a nutrient container therein. In some embodiments, each pocket has a single opening at a side end of the pocket or a top edge of the pocket. In some embodiments, each pocket has two openings (e.g., at two lateral ends) for inserting a nutrient container therein (and removing it therefrom). The use of two openings can facilitate a user in manipulating the nutrient container and/or pouch with two hands when inserting and removing the nutrient container.

In some embodiments, the or each pocket is formed as a flap that is secured to the bladder (e.g., the sidewall of the bladder) along one rim (e.g., the lower rim) and may be releasably secured along the rim (e.g., the upper rim) opposite the bladder (e.g., the sidewall of the bladder), wherein the opposite rim can be released to allow insertion and removal of the nutrient container to retain the nutrient container within the bag. In some embodiments, a releasably secured closure mechanism is configured to facilitate opening and closing of the pocket. A releasably securable closure mechanism is preferably associated with the opposite free edges of the flaps. In some embodiments, releasably secured closureThe mechanism includes a hook and loop fastener (e.g.,

) Snap lock fasteners, push button/stud, zippers, push buttons, and the like. Preferably, a first portion of the releasably securable closure mechanism is connected to the free edge of the flap and a second portion is connected to the bladder, wherein selective movement of the flap can bring the first and second portions of the releasably securable closure mechanism into mating engagement to retain or secure the free edge relative to the sidewall of the bladder, thereby closing the pocket.

In some embodiments, the inflatable bladder of the activation mechanism may be connected to a pressurized fluid (air or liquid) supply, whereby the pressurized fluid supply is selectively operable to inflate and deflate the inflatable bladder as desired.

In some embodiments, the system is configured to deliver the nutrient supply according to a predetermined dosing regimen. In some embodiments, the dosing regimen may include delivering a single batch or quantity of a nutrient supply to the container, whereby the nutrient supply remains in contact with a portion of the plant (e.g., the base, root, or other portion) for a predetermined time interval, optionally throughout the growing period.

In other embodiments, the dosing regimen may be a temporary immersion regimen, wherein a predetermined amount of the nutrient supply is repeatedly filled into the container for a first predetermined discrete time interval and subsequently expelled from the container for a second predetermined discrete time period, whereby the filling and expelling of the nutrient supply into and out of the container occurs for a predetermined number of cycles and/or a predetermined duration. In some embodiments, the first predetermined discrete time interval is less than the second predetermined discrete time interval. For example, the nutrient supply may be provided to the bioreactor and held therein for a period of about 15 minutes, 30 minutes, 45 minutes or 60 minutes every 24 hours. Such embodiments can be useful for increasing the growth rate of plants, reducing the risk of contamination, and reducing the amount of nutrients required throughout the growing period. In some embodiments, the first predetermined discrete time interval is greater than the second predetermined discrete time interval. In some embodiments, the first predetermined discrete time interval is equal to the second predetermined discrete time interval.

In some embodiments, a housing is provided for releasably receiving one or more nutrient containers. In some embodiments, the housing comprises a plurality of discrete chambers in which one or more nutrient containers can be received. Preferably, each chamber is sized to receive a single nutrient container. In some embodiments, the housing comprises a generally elongated rectangular prism having a plurality of dividers arranged to form the respective chambers. Preferably, the body of the housing is an open top structure having a floor, side walls and end walls.

Preferably, the housing is resiliently deformable such that, in use, the activation mechanism may be adapted to releasably deform or squeeze the housing, thereby causing a respective compressive or squeezing force to be applied to each nutrient container within the housing to cause the nutrient supply of each nutrient container to be expelled via the respective port.

In some embodiments, the amount, rate, and/or duration of compressive force applied directly or indirectly to the nutrient container is controllable such that the flow of nutrient supply to and from the nutrient supply can in turn be controlled as well. In some embodiments, the fill flow rate may be different than the vent flow rate. In some embodiments, the fill flow rate and the vent flow rate may be substantially the same.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a plant propagation system comprising:

a tray having at least one plant receiving opening for receiving a growing plant; and

a cutting element adapted to make at least one vertical cut in the plant, thereby dividing the plant into two or more plant parts.

This aspect of the disclosure is particularly suitable and advantageous for use with stemless (tufted or rosette) plants. As envisioned, stemless plants should be understood to include plants that typically have little or no stems above ground or soil levels. Thus, the cutting element is preferably configured such that it is capable of a cutting action along a vertical axis (downwards).

Preferably, the cutting element is configured to cut or divide each plant evenly, whereby each cut plant part has substantially the same size. Preferably, the cutting element is configured to cut through a centre point of each opening in the tray in use, thereby facilitating cutting of the vegetation into cut vegetation parts of equal size. In some embodiments, the cutting element is adapted to cut each plant into a predetermined number of smaller plant parts; such as, but not limited to, two portions, three portions, four portions, five portions, six portions, seven portions, or eight portions. In some embodiments, the cutting element is adapted to cut each plant in half, thereby producing two plant parts of substantially the same size. In various embodiments, it is preferred to divide each plant into four substantially equally sized portions using a cutting element, or in other words, to divide each plant into four equal halves.

In some embodiments, the cutting element is adapted to divide each plant into predetermined smaller plant parts in a single cutting action. In some embodiments, the cutting element is adapted to divide each plant into predetermined smaller plant parts with two or more cutting actions, strokes or pass-through paths. For example, depending on the shape and configuration of the cutting element, the cutting element may be used to cut or divide vegetation in half in a first cutting action. After the first cutting action, in this example, the blade may be rotated relative to the tray by a predetermined degree or angle (e.g., 90 degrees) such that the cutting element is capable of performing a second cutting action to further divide the plant (e.g., cut each of the half plant parts formed by the first cutting action into quarter plant parts). In some embodiments, the tray may be moved (e.g., rotated) relative to the blade in order to position the blade relative to the tray/plant for a second cutting action. In some embodiments, after the first cutting action, both the blade and the tray move relative to each other, thereby positioning the blade for the second cutting action.

In some embodiments, the cutting element comprises a blade. In some embodiments, the blade has a single cutting edge. In some embodiments, the cutting element comprises a plurality of blade elements, wherein each blade element is adapted to fit within a respective opening of the tray for cutting a respective plant located therein. In some embodiments, the cutting edge may include a bevel or chamfer to enhance its cutting ability in terms of cutting strength (e.g., cutting thicker and/or harder vegetation) and/or rough cutting/precision (e.g., fine to rough cutting). In some embodiments, the cutting edge may be straight-sided, serrated, or the like. In some embodiments, throughout the cutting action, the cutting edge may be adapted to cut individual plants or plant parts with the cutting edge arranged substantially parallel to the surface of the tray or medium in which the plants are grown.

For example, where the tray is arranged substantially horizontally, the cutting edges may be substantially parallel to the upper surface of the tray, and such that the cutting edges are similarly arranged horizontally. In such an arrangement, the cutting action of the cutting element may be achieved by moving the cutting element downwardly towards the tray until it engages the vegetation, whereby further downward movement of the cutting element causes the cutting element to cut or divide the vegetation into smaller sub-vegetation parts. In other embodiments, the tray may be movable to position it and thus the vegetation in a desired position relative to the cutting element.

In some embodiments, the cutting element may be configured such that it is angled relative to the tray such that during the cutting action the cutting edge progressively engages the vegetation, thereby cutting or dividing the vegetation into smaller vegetation parts.

In some embodiments, the cutting edge is shaped to cut the plant into predetermined three or more sub-plant parts in a single cutting action.

For example, the cutting element may be generally Y-shaped, thereby cutting or dividing the vegetation into three vegetation parts. In such embodiments, the angles between the arms of the Y-shaped blade are substantially equal (e.g., about 120 degrees between each pair of arms), thereby facilitating cutting of the plant to form three substantially equally sized plant parts.

In other embodiments, the cutting element may be substantially t-shaped or plus-shaped or V-shaped, thereby cutting or dividing the vegetation into four vegetation parts. In such embodiments, the angle between the arms of the t-shaped or V-shaped blade is substantially equal (e.g., about 90 degrees between each pair of arms), thereby facilitating cutting of the plant to form four plant parts of substantially equal size. In other forms, a single cutting blade may be used to make four separate cuts to cut or divide the vegetation into four quarter vegetation parts. For example, the first notch is at the 12 o 'clock position, the second notch is at the 3 o' clock position, the third notch is at the 6 o 'clock position, and the fourth notch is at the 9 o' clock position.

It will be understood that the cutting element is not limited to having a cutting blade shaped according to the above non-limiting exemplary shapes provided by way of example only. Rather, the cutting element may be configured to cut or segment a plant to form plant parts having a predetermined shape and/or size, including plant parts having different sizes and/or shapes via a single cutting action.

In some embodiments, the cutting element includes a handle portion extending away from the blade, thereby facilitating manual operation of the cutting element and manual cutting of plants planted within the tray. In some embodiments, the cutting element is adapted to be attached to a selectively operable actuator, thereby facilitating automated and semi-automated cutting processes.

In some embodiments, the actuator is adapted to facilitate movement of the cutting element towards and away from the tray to produce a cutting action to cut or divide individual plants planted within the tray. In some embodiments, the actuator is a linear actuator configured to cause a corresponding linear movement (e.g., an upward movement and a downward movement) of the cutting element. In some embodiments, the actuator may include a first actuator for causing linear positional movement of the cutting element and a second actuator for causing rotational positional movement of the cutting element, thereby facilitating positioning and alignment of the cutting element relative to the tray, and thus, relative to the individual plants planted therein. In some embodiments, the cutting element may form an end effector of a robotic arm, whereby the robotic arm is configured to control the motion of the cutting element and thus the associated cutting action, including, for example, cutting speed, frequency, timing, and the like.

Preferably, the tray comprises a plurality of plant receiving openings. In some embodiments, each tray has a predetermined contour or shape. In some embodiments, each tray is generally rectangular, square, triangular, circular, hexagonal, or other suitable polygonal shape. Preferably, each tray has a substantially uniform thickness or height.

Each opening is preferably configured to be suitable for the particular plant type or size that is intended to be planted therein. In some embodiments, each plant receiving opening has the same shape or configuration. In some embodiments, each plant receiving opening is the same size. In some embodiments, each tray may include a different size plant receiving opening. In some embodiments, each opening is rectangular, square, triangular, circular, hexagonal, or other suitable polygonal shape.

For example, the tray may have a first set of plant receiving openings (two or more) having a first configuration and a second set of plant receiving openings (two or more) having a second configuration, wherein the plant receiving openings of the first configuration are different from the second configuration. In some embodiments, the openings of the first group may have the same shape as the openings of the second group, but have a different size.

In some embodiments, each plant receiving opening is a through opening. In some embodiments, each plant receiving opening is an open-topped opening or cavity. Each open-topped opening or cavity preferably has a floor. Preferably, the base plate is perforated with one or more openings to facilitate feeding of nutrients to the root system of the plants planted in each opening. In some embodiments, the floor of each opening may be defined by a separate floor block extending across or adjacent the bottom or lower end of each respective plant receiving opening. In some embodiments, a single floor block may extend over the lower surface of the tray, thereby defining a floor portion of each plant receiving opening.

Preferably, each plant receiving opening is adapted for receiving an individual plant, more preferably a plant of the stemless type.

In some embodiments, the plurality of plant receiving openings are arranged in a regular array (e.g. a square or rectangular array), preferably with regular/uniform spacing between the openings. In some embodiments, the openings in each tray are arranged in an annular array. In some embodiments, the plurality of plant receiving openings are arranged in an irregular array. For example, the openings may be arranged to form an offset array in which alternating rows are staggered to a predetermined extent (e.g. 50% of the opening size), thereby enabling the spacing between adjacent openings to be reduced and thus each plate also providing additional openings.

Preferably, each tray is configured such that it can be received in a plant production vessel or bioreactor. Preferably, each tray is configured such that it can rest freely on the base of the bioreactor, thereby facilitating, in use, the concentration of the supply of plants via the liquid nutrient supply on the base of the bioreactor.

In some embodiments, the floor of each plant receiving opening acts against the underside of the respective plant, thereby restricting movement of the plants during the cutting action. In other embodiments, the base of the bioreactor rests against the underside of each plant, thereby restricting the movement of the plants during the cutting action.

In some embodiments, a single cutting element is used to cut each plant grown within the tray. For example, the cutting element may be used to perform a cutting action in each opening of the tray according to a predetermined program (e.g., traversing a first row, then a second row, etc. in sequence). In some embodiments, the cutting element is used to perform a cutting action on the plants by reference to a predetermined growth period of each plant or a developmental stage (e.g., size or shape) of each plant.

In some embodiments, the cutting element may be adapted to cut a plurality of plants during a single cutting operation. In some embodiments, the cutting element may include a plurality of blades arranged in an opposing spaced relationship, wherein the spacing between the blades corresponds to the spacing between the openings in the tray that are desired to be cut simultaneously. For example, the blades may be spaced apart such that each plant in the first row of the tray is cut simultaneously. In other forms, two blades are used to cut two plants simultaneously. In some embodiments, the blades may be spaced apart so as to cut a plant in each second, third, fourth or fifth opening of a row of the tray or on a different row of the tray. In some embodiments, the cutting element may be adapted to simultaneously cut each plant planted within the plant receiving formation of the tray.

In some embodiments, each tray has a lid. Preferably, each cover is releasably mountable on a respective tray, preferably on an upper surface of the tray. In some embodiments, a cover is mounted to the tray to restrict or limit the height at which each plant can grow. In some embodiments, the cover has one or more openings through which one or more new shoots of individual plants can grow. In some embodiments, the cover is adapted to cut or trim the plants when the cover is removed from the tray such that each trimmed plant has substantially the same height. For example, the lid may be slidably mounted to the tray, whereby upon a sliding action to remove the lid from the tray, the tray shears the plant to trim new shoots that protrude above the height of the lid.

In some embodiments, a plurality of stemless (tufted) plants can be arranged in and planted in a first tray within the bioreactor, wherein a second tray can be placed or stacked on the first tray such that the lateral cutting elements can pass between the first and second trays, thereby cutting the leaves and thus trimming the height of the stemless plants. Preferably, the lateral cutting of the leaves is performed before the vertical cutting action is performed to split or divide the stemless plant into corresponding plant parts.

Preferably, the system comprises a plurality of trays, wherein a first tray can be used for growing a first plant and a second tray can be used for growing a second plant of the plant parts cut from the first plant. A third tray and other trays can be used to grow additional batches from the cut plant parts. This process can be repeated to continue the growth cycle.

In some embodiments, the cutting elements are held in place within the respective plant receiving openings at the end of the cutting action while the cut plant parts are removed from the cavities/trays. By keeping the cutting element in this position during removal of the cut plant part, another risk of unintentionally removing the cut plant part during the extraction process is reduced.

In some embodiments, the picking of the cut plant parts is a manual operation, optionally performed by hand or by means of a dedicated plant gripping mechanism. In some embodiments, the gripping mechanism may be attached to an actuator, such as a linear actuator, a rotary actuator, or a robotic arm, to assist in automatically or semi-automatically removing cut plant parts from a tray and subsequently transferring to another tray to restart the growing process.

In some embodiments, the gripping mechanism may be in the form of a clamp, forceps, nail puller, ligature forceps, or the like. Such a gripping mechanism preferably comprises a pair of opposed gripper arms which are biased away from each other to an open position, wherein, in use, selective closing forces applied to the gripper arms move the arms relative to each other to close the opening between the arms, thereby gripping the cut plant parts.

In some embodiments, the gripping mechanism comprises a suction or vacuum device for gripping, lifting and moving the cut plant parts. Such a grasping mechanism may include a hollow tube optionally having a suction cup fitted to one end (e.g., the free end). Preferably, a selectively operable air supply is connected to the other end of the hollow tube, the air supply being configured to generate a negative pressure within the tube to lift the cut plant parts. In some embodiments, the negative pressure is turned off to release the cut plant part for placement in a desired location (e.g., another tray). In some embodiments, the air supply is selectively operable to generate a positive pressure within the hollow tube to assist in releasing the cut plant part from the free end of the tube for placement at a desired location. In certain embodiments, the suction or vacuum gripping mechanism may include a first tube for gripping the cut plant part under negative pressure, and a second tube for releasing the cut plant part from the tube under positive pressure (e.g., a puff of air).

Preferably, when the stemless plant is divided into smaller plant parts by vertical cutting, at least one plant part is left in a corresponding opening of the tray in which the plant is grown, so that the tray can be returned to the bioreactor to restart the growth cycle of the remaining plant part, while the other part is extracted and placed in another tray to provide a batch of new plant parts for the growth cycle.

a body for receiving at least one growing plant; and

a cutting element adapted to make at least one vertical cut in the plant, thereby dividing the plant into two or more plant parts, such that each plant part can be re-planted or repositioned (e.g., in another tray) for further growth.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of propagating a plant, the method comprising the steps of:

providing at least one plant receiving opening;

placing a plant in the or each plant-receiving opening, the plant being at a first predetermined stage of development;

providing a nutrient supply to the plant according to a predetermined nutrient program; and

once the plant reaches the second predetermined stage of development, the plant is cut along the generally vertical axis, thereby dividing the plant into two or more plant parts such that each plant part can be re-planted or repositioned (e.g., in another tray) for further growth.

Drawings

Embodiments of the present disclosure will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

fig. 1A-1C show a perspective view, a front view, and a driving side view, respectively, of an embodiment of a bioreactor according to the present disclosure, with the lid in a closed position;

FIGS. 2A to 2C show a perspective view, a front view and a driving side view, respectively, of the base of the bioreactor of FIG. 1;

FIGS. 3A and 3B show perspective and right side views of an embodiment of a stackable tray for holding and growing a plurality of plants in opposed spaced relation;

FIG. 4 shows a schematic side view of an embodiment of a stacked bioreactor having trays nested therein;

FIG. 5 illustrates a top view of an embodiment of a bioreactor showing various exemplary shapes, configurations, and layouts of openings within stackable plant growth trays;

FIG. 6 shows a perspective view of an embodiment of a tray for supporting a stack of trays during a cutting operation;

FIG. 7 shows a perspective view of an embodiment of a hand tool for releasably holding and manipulating the cutting/separation plate;

FIG. 8 shows a perspective view of an embodiment of a carrier for releasably storing a plurality of cutting/separating panels ready for use;

FIGS. 9A and 9B show perspective and enlarged detail views of the front edge of an embodiment of a cutting/separating panel for dividing a stack of trays into smaller sub-stacks and cutting vegetation when inserted between a pair of trays;

fig. 10A and 10B show perspective and front views, respectively, of a carrier for lifting and carrying a stack of trays or a sub-stack of trays;

FIG. 11 shows an embodiment of a media delivery system incorporating a flexible nutrient supply container for supplying a liquid nutrient supply to a bioreactor;

FIG. 12 shows an exemplary arrangement of a media delivery system incorporating a plurality of flexible nutrient supply containers for supplying liquid nutrients to a plurality of bioreactors;

13A, 13B, and 13C each show a first state of a schematic of another embodiment of a media delivery system according to the present disclosure, wherein a liquid nutrient supply is filled into a bioreactor; a second state in which the liquid nutrient supply is filled into the bioreactor; a third state in which the liquid nutrient supply is ready to be filled into the bioreactor;

FIG. 14 is a flow chart showing an overview of the process of growing plants from a stack of trays, cutting the plants and separating the stack and repeating the process with each tray holding a plant that has been cut;

fig. 15 shows a schematic view of an embodiment of a plant propagation tray according to the present disclosure, wherein a plurality of plants are grown in respective plant receiving openings;

FIG. 16 shows representative cut lines along which each plant grown in the tray of FIG. 1 is cut to produce four cut plant parts of substantially the same size; and

fig. 17 shows a schematic of the process of transferring each cut plant part to another tray to restart the growing process.

Detailed Description

Referring to the drawings and initially to fig. 1A-C, there is shown an embodiment of a plant propagation system 1 for growing a plant tissue culture.

The system 1 comprises a vessel in the form of a bioreactor 2 for growing a plant tissue culture. As best shown in fig. 1A and 2C, the base 3 of the bioreactor 2 has an open top 4. The cover 5 is releasably attached around the open top 4 of the base 3 to close the bioreactor to provide a suitable sterile environment for growing plants therein. Preferably, the cover 5 sealingly engages the base 3 around its open top 4.

To enhance the seal between the base 3 and the cover 5, a sealing element in the form of a continuous uninterrupted resiliently compressible sealing element (not shown) is adapted to be located between the cover 5 and the peripheral edge 6 of the open top 4 of the base 3. The base 3 and/or the cover 5 preferably comprise a channel 7 extending around the periphery of its opening, wherein the channel 7 is adapted to receive a sealing element therein. An exemplary form of such a channel 7 formed in the base 3 is shown in fig. 2A.

The bioreactor container 2 comprises a releasable locking mechanism for securely locking the lid 5 to the base 3 in a closed sealing configuration, as shown in fig. 1. In the embodiment shown, the locking mechanism is in the form of six manually operable latches 8 configured to positively pull the lid and base portions (3, 5) of the bioreactor 2 towards each other, thereby facilitating compression of the sealing element therebetween. It should be understood that any number of latches 8 may be used to secure the base 3 and lid 5 to each other.

Referring now to fig. 3 and 4, the base 3 is configured for releasably receiving a holder that holds at least two plants in an opposed spaced relationship. In the exemplary form of fig. 3, the holder is in the form of a generally rectangular tray 9 having a plurality of openings 10 arranged in a predetermined ordered pattern. This is a particular advantage over existing plant tissue culture systems, where plants are typically placed and planted in a randomly spaced arrangement within the area of the base of the bioreactor.

In the exemplary form of fig. 3A, each opening 10 is hexagonal in shape. It will be appreciated that the use of such hexagonal openings 10 enables the openings to be arranged relatively close to each other with successive rows overlapping to a predetermined extent. This close-fitting arrangement of the openings 10 thus enables a greater number of openings 10 to be formed in the tray 9, thereby increasing the overall efficiency of propagation of the plant tissue culture via the plant propagation system 1. Advantageously, each opening 10 is dedicated to receiving a portion of an individual plant.

It will be understood that the openings 10 are not limited to the hexagonal shape shown, but rather the openings may be any suitable shape, including but not limited to circular, oval, square, rectangular, triangular, and other polygonal shapes.

To further increase the efficiency of the plant propagation system 1, and as shown in fig. 4, in some examples it may be desirable to provide and configure a plurality of trays 9 so that they can be stacked. Fig. 4 shows a schematic representation of a tower or stack of trays 9 placed within bioreactor 2.

Each tray 9 preferably has the same or similar shape and/or configuration. It will be appreciated that the ability to arrange two or more similarly configured trays in a vertical tower or stack advantageously allows the respective openings 24 to be aligned such that a plurality of through passages of predetermined height suitable for a particular plant type can be formed or configured, thereby enabling plants to grow upwardly through each passage.

The stacking of trays 9 has several advantages for improving the efficiency of the operation, including providing support to each plant as its height increases during its growth period, and guiding each plant upwards in a substantially vertical direction.

The use of a stack of trays 9 also enables the plants to be grown to a higher height, so that multiple cuts can be made to the stem of each plant, thereby significantly increasing the number of plants that can be produced from a single batch bioreactor. For example, in a stack of four trays, where each tray 9 has fifty openings, if cutting is performed between the two trays 9 in the middle, two batches of plants will be provided, each batch having fifty cuttings, thus there are a total of 100 cuttings. For example, if the stack is increased to six trays and cuts are made between every other tray, this will result in three batches of fifty cuttings, thus there are a total of 150 cuttings. It will therefore be appreciated that there is a correlation between the overall efficiency of the plant propagation system 1 and both the number of openings per tray 9 and the number that can be cut per plant.

The above-described apparatus is provided by way of example only to illustrate the operational efficiencies that can be demonstrated to be obtainable from the plant propagation system 1. In practice, at least the lowermost tray 9 can be used to support the root system of the plant towards the floor of the base 3 of the bioreactor 2 and therefore cannot be used for regrowth of the cuttings produced; this is reserved for the upper tray in the stack. It will also be appreciated that the sub-stacks are not intended to be limited to pairs of trays 9 as described above, but that any suitable number of trays may be selected to provide the sub-stacks with a height substantially corresponding to the desired height of the cuttings to be produced. For example, a sub-stack may include three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, or more trays. Thus, the stack of trays may include an even number of trays 9 or an odd number of trays 9, as desired.

Thus, it will be appreciated that the cutting action provided by the present system is particularly suited to tree plants and provides advantages over tree plants. Such plants are known as arborescent plants, typically having a single stem or trunk.

It will be appreciated that the ability to grow a plurality of plants in an orderly spaced array, and the ability to have the height of each plant substantially the same during growth, advantageously enables each cutting operation to be performed on each plant within the holder in a single pass. The efficiency achieved by the ability to cut multiple plants in a single pass far exceeds the efficiency of a system that cuts a single plant at a time or lacks that system.

Each tray 9 preferably has a uniform thickness over at least the main (or central) area in which the opening 10 is formed. In the illustrated embodiment, best shown in fig. 3B, each tray 9 includes one or more end tabs 11 of reduced thickness to facilitate selection and removal of a desired tray or subset of trays from the stack of trays and/or to provide lead-in openings between pairs of trays 9 to facilitate performing cutting operations between adjacent trays within the stack of trays.

In this regard, it is preferable that no positioning member is formed on the tray 9 so that no obstacle extends between adjacent trays 9, thereby enabling a cutting operation to be freely performed between a pair of adjacent trays 9. Rather, bioreactor 2, or more specifically base 3 of bioreactor 1, is configured to position and support aligned trays 9 or stacks of trays 9. In some forms, the side walls of the base 3 may be used to provide the necessary support for the stack of trays 9. In other forms, one or more locating elements, such as raised ribs or lugs, may be formed on the floor of the base 3 to support and locate at least the lowermost tray 9 of the stack.

Referring to fig. 7 and 9, a cutting mechanism in the form of a dedicated hand-held cutting tool 12 is provided for dividing the stack of trays and manually cutting the plants planted therein. The cutting tool 12 includes a handle portion 14 at its proximal end and a blade holder 13 at its distal end. The blade holder 13 is adapted to releasably grip and hold a cutting element in the form of a plate or blade 26 (fig. 9) such that the blade 26 extends generally away from the handle portion 14 for use. The blade holder 13 can be selectively released to remove the blade 26 for cleaning and storage.

In the illustrated embodiment, the cutting element is in the form of a flat blade 26 (fig. 9), whereby the blade can be fitted between a pair of adjacent stacking trays 9 to divide the stack of trays and cut each plant grown within the trays 9. In this form, the blade 26 is formed from a relatively thin sheet material, such as metal or plastic.

The relatively thin profile of the blade 26 enables it to be inserted between a pair of adjacently stacked trays 9 by a pushing or sliding motion. As best shown in fig. 9B, the leading edge of the blade 26 is tapered to provide a lead-in to facilitate insertion of the blade 26 between a pair of stacked trays 9. Advantageously, the introduction enables the blade 26 to cut each plant from a direction substantially transverse or orthogonal to the longitudinal axis of the stem of each plant when the blade 26 is inserted between the respective pair of trays 9. That is, the blade 26 is configured to cut the stem of each plant either axially or laterally. In use, the blade can be positioned and manipulated to slide between a pair of trays which move progressively from the front of the stack to the rear of the stack. In this way, the blade will cut each plant in the first or foremost row substantially simultaneously, since the plants are aligned within the respective openings 10, then the second row, and so on, until the plants in the last row are cut. Once the blade 26 has been fully inserted and all the plants are cut, the plate-like structure of the blade 26 can be used to support and lift a sub-stack of trays 9 located above the blade 26.

In other forms rather than using a blade, the cutting mechanism may comprise a thermal cutting device (not shown), such as a laser system or a device adapted to pass a laser beam between adjacent trays, or a high pressure nozzle (not shown) adapted to pass a stream of fluid (e.g. water) between adjacent trays, or other suitable cutting mechanism, such as a fine wire element, to perform a cutting operation on the plant in a single pass over the holder. In this form, the cutting mechanism and the dividing plate/support plate are formed as separate elements or devices.

The cutting operation is preferably carried out outside the bioreactor 2. That is, once the plants have reached the desired growth parameters within the bioreactor, such as the desired height and/or set period of time, in some examples, the stack of trays 9 is first removed from the bioreactor 2 before performing the cutting operation.

To assist in lifting the stack of trays 9 with the plants from the base 3 of the bioreactor 2, carriers 15 are provided for sterile handling of the trays or stack of trays 9. Fig. 10 shows an exemplary embodiment of the carrier 15. The carrier 15 is preferably configured such that it can be used to carry a desired number of plates from one tray, two or more trays or an entire stack of trays in a sub-stack.

In the illustrated embodiment, the carrier 15 includes a handle 16 and a pair of spaced apart arms 17 extending from the handle 16. The arms 17 are adapted to engage respective side edge portions of an associated tray 9, whereby once a tray is gripped, manual manipulation of the carrier 15 via the handle 16 causes corresponding movement of the gripped tray 9 (and any tray located above the gripped tray) to position as required (e.g. for sterile removal of the tray 9 from the bioreactor 2). Preferably, the arm 17 extends downwardly from the handle 16, so that in use the arm can extend from above into the base 3 of the bioreactor 2 and then engage the stack of trays 9.

As shown in fig. 10B, each arm 17 has a tray engaging formation in the form of a laterally extending track 18 associated with the distal end of the respective arm 17 to assist in securely engaging or gripping the respective side edge portion of the tray 9. The side edge portion of each tray 9 may have a receiving formation, such as a chamfer, cut-out or recess, in which the track 18 is adapted to be releasably engaged therein or otherwise engaged.

In the illustrated embodiment, the pair of arms 17 are biased toward each other to facilitate engagement with a tray or stack of trays. An operating member in the form of two finger activatable triggers 19 is operatively associated with each arm 17. A trigger 19 is operatively associated with the arms 17 and arranged such that they can be pressed into the handle 16 by finger pressure of a user, whereby operation of the trigger 19 causes the arms 17 (and hence the tracks 18) to move away from each other under the action of the biasing mechanism. This helps to widen the gap between the arms 17 and the rails 18 so that they can pass over the stack of trays 9. Finger pressure on the trigger 19 is then released and the arms 17 and tracks 18 are moved inwardly towards each other by the action of a biasing mechanism (e.g. a tensioned helical spring) to engage the respective tray 9.

Referring to fig. 6, brackets 20 are provided for holding the stacked trays in relative alignment when removed from bioreactor 2, whereby the passageway formed by the aligned openings 10 of each tray 9 is held in an open position.

In the illustrated embodiment, the bracket 20 includes a bottom plate portion 21 and a pair of side edge portions 22 extending upwardly from the bottom plate portion 21 so as to be able to receive a stack of trays 9 therebetween. The side edge portions 22 are spaced apart at a predetermined distance such that the stack of trays 9 is closely received therebetween, thereby limiting lateral movement of the trays 9 within the brackets 20 and maintaining alignment thereof.

In some embodiments, the tray 20 includes a stop 23 against which the stack of trays 9 can rest, thereby limiting the extent to which the trays can move rearwardly relative to the floor portion 21 of the tray 20. As shown, the stop 23 includes a flange 24 extending partially laterally from each side, the flange 24 extending inwardly toward the centerline of the bracket 20.

The front edge of the bottom panel portion 21 of the tray 20 is folded downwardly to form a raising member for raising the front edge of the bottom panel portion relative to its rear edge so that, in use, the bottom panel portion slopes downwardly from front to rear whereby the stack of trays 9 tends to position itself on the stop by a sliding movement.

The floor portion 21 of the carrier 20 comprises friction reducing elements in the form of a pair of raised elongate tracks 25 for reducing friction between the stack of trays 9 and the floor portion 21. This facilitates relative translational sliding of the stack of trays 9 on the base portion 21, thereby helping to maintain the stack of trays 9 in alignment when moving the trays 9 into or out of the carrier 20.

Referring to fig. 9, the blades 26 may also function as divider plates 26 provided for dividing the stack of trays 9 into smaller sub-stacks after the cutting operation. As previously described, the separator plate is formed as a perforated sheet structure such that it can slide between a pair of adjacent vertically stacked trays 9, thereby separating the adjacent pair of trays 9 and forming a platform to help lift the sub-stack of trays from the initial stack. In some forms, the divider plate 26 may also be used to help separate the lowermost tray or trays associated with the root system from the trays immediately above that contain healthy cuttings.

Referring to fig. 4, bioreactor 2 has at least one dedicated nutrient supply port 28 disposed toward a lower region of the container, through which dedicated nutrient supply port 28 a liquid nutrient supply can be selectively filled into bioreactor 2 or discharged from bioreactor 2, thereby promoting the growth of plants. In fig. 4, the bioreactor 2 also has an air outlet 27 arranged towards the upper region of the vessel for admitting and discharging air to and from the vessel in order to regulate the pressure within the vessel. That is, when the liquid nutrient supply is filled into the container, the vent 27 allows air to be vented from the container, thereby preventing a pressurized atmosphere within the bioreactor. Similarly, vent 27 allows air to enter the container as the liquid nutrient supply is drained from the container, thereby preventing vacuum pressure from occurring within the container, thereby also ensuring that the liquid medium drains freely from the container or out to a media container under the force of gravity, which media container is adapted to hold a reservoir of the liquid nutrient supply.

The bioreactor 2 is configured such that when the port 28 is closed, the nutrient supply is concentrated on the floor of the base 3 so that it can come into contact with the root system of the plant.

Referring now to fig. 11 and 12, an embodiment of a media transport system 30 is shown. The system is adapted to be fluidly connectable to bioreactor 2 via nutrient supply port 28 to selectively supply a liquid nutrient supply to the interior of base 3. The media transport system may be configured as a gravity feed system. However, in the illustrated embodiment, the media delivery system 30 is configured as a pressure feed system.

The media delivery system 30 can advantageously be configured for use in systems for growing various plant types. For example, system 30 can be used to deliver nutrient supply 2 under a predetermined dosing regimen to actively promote the growth of various types of plants, including but not limited to tree-like plants and stemless plants. The system 30 is particularly advantageous for delivering a liquid nutrient supply 2 to plants grown in Plant Tissue Culture (PTC). The nutrient supply 2, which is used in a flowable or liquid state, is advantageous in that it can be easily controlled to flow towards and away from the nutrient container as required.

Accordingly, the system 30 will be described, by way of example only, with reference to use in PTC applications. However, the system 30 has the potential for wide application, and can be readily adapted to a variety of other systems, processes and devices for growing plants, including, for example, greenhouses and outdoor environments, or liquid dosage requirements for non-plant applications. As described in more detail below, the system 30 advantageously provides significant flexibility in customizing a predetermined or desired dosing regimen for feeding the plant with the liquid nutrient supply 2. In particular, the system 1 can be advantageously used for developing a temporary immersion solution.

The media delivery system 30 advantageously includes a nutrient container in the form of a flexible bladder or bag 31 for containing a predetermined amount of a nutrient supply or one or more components of a nutrient supply. The flexible bladder 3 is selectively deformable such that at least a portion of the nutrient supply 2 is expelled from the bladder via the port 4 when a compressive force is applied to the bladder 3. In this way, the liquid nutrient supply 2 can be directed to the bioreactor 5 to promote the growth of plants therein.

Supply line 32 may preferably be connected between bioreactor 2 and nutrient bag 31 via nutrient supply port 28 so that the nutrient supply can be filled into bioreactor 2 and/or drained from bioreactor 2, thereby facilitating the flow of a predetermined dosing regimen to promote growth of plants within bioreactor 2.

As shown in fig. 11, an activation mechanism 33 in the form of a selectively inflatable bladder is operatively associated with nutrition bag 31. Activation mechanism 33 is configured to move between an active position (shown in phantom in fig. 11) in which the nutrient supply is forcibly charged into bioreactor 2 and an inactive position (shown in solid in fig. 11) in which the nutrient supply is prevented from flowing to bioreactor 2. In some configurations, when activation mechanism 33 is in the inactive position, the nutrient supply is freely drained from bioreactor 2 by supply line 32 back into nutrient bag 31. Such a configuration is particularly advantageous for employing a temporary immersion dosage regime, whereby the nutrient supply can be repeatedly filled into and drained from bioreactor 2, preferably at predetermined time intervals.

By using a flexible nutrient bag 31, the activation mechanism 33 can already be adapted to compress or squeeze the flexible nutrient bag 31 in its active position, thereby forcing the nutrient supply to flow from the nutrient bag to the bioreactor 2 via the supply line 32. In such embodiments, when the activation mechanism is returned to its inactive position, the activation mechanism disengages or at least partially releases its engagement with the flexible nutrient bag 31 so that the nutrient supply is free to return to the nutrient container via the supply line 32.

The temporary immersion schedule may be configured such that a predetermined amount of the nutrient supply is repeatedly filled into the container for a first predetermined discrete time interval and subsequently drained from the container for a second predetermined discrete time period, whereby the filling and draining of the nutrient supply into and from the container occurs for a predetermined number of cycles and/or a predetermined duration.

Referring now to fig. 13A-C, another embodiment of a media transport system 30 is shown. In this embodiment, the flexible bag 300 has one flow port 400 through which the nutrient supply 200 can flow into or out of the flexible bag 300 according to a desired dosing schedule. A conduit or supply line is provided in the form of a length of hollow cylindrical tubing 600 to direct the flow of liquid nutrient supply 200 between the flexible bag 300 and the bioreactor 500 in which plants are to be grown. Conduit 600 may be connected at its first end 700 to port 400 of flexible bag 300 and at its second end 800 to port 900 associated with bioreactor 500, such that nutrient supply 200 can be filled into bioreactor 500 and/or drained from bioreactor 500, thereby facilitating a predetermined dosing regimen to promote plant growth within bioreactor 500.

In the illustrated embodiment, the port 900 is formed in the base or floor 1000 of the bioreactor 500. This enables the amount of liquid medium supply 200' filled into bioreactor 500 to accumulate or concentrate to a predetermined depth on floor 1000 so that it can easily (directly or indirectly) contact the root system of individual plants to provide nutrients thereto to promote plant growth.

In the illustrated embodiment, to facilitate controlling the flow of the liquid nutrient supply 200 into and out of the flexible bag 300, the system 100 includes an activation mechanism 1100 operably associated with the flexible bag 300, whereby operation of the activation mechanism 1100 causes at least a portion of the nutrient supply 200 to flow from the flexible bag 300 to the bioreactor 500, and vice versa.

Activation mechanism 1100 is configured to move between an active position (fig. 13A) in which nutrient supply 200 is forcibly charged into bioreactor 500 and an inactive position in which nutrient supply 200 is unable to flow to bioreactor 500. To provide control over the operation of the activation mechanism 1100, a selectively operable nutrient supply valve (not shown) is disposed so as to be in fluid communication with the catheter or supply line 600.

The activation mechanism 1100 may include a force application element or mechanism for applying a compressive force to the flexible bag 300. In the embodiment shown, the activation mechanism includes a selectively inflatable element or bladder 1200. The inflatable element 1200 is arranged such that, in use, upon inflation (i.e. changing from a deflated or partially deflated/semi-deflated configuration to an inflated or more inflated configuration), it abuts against the flexible bag 300 holding the nutrient supply 200, thereby applying a compressive force to the bag 300, which causes at least a portion of the nutrient supply 200 to flow out of the bag 300 to the bioreactor 500 via the conduit 600.

In the illustrated embodiment, the inflatable bladder 1200 of the activation mechanism 1100 includes at least one receiving formation in the form of a pocket 1300 for releasably receiving at least one nutritional bag 300. In certain embodiments, the pocket 1300 can take a variety of forms, and may, for example, be configured to receive two or more pouches 300.

In some embodiments, inflatable bladder 1200 may include a plurality of pockets 1300, and the plurality of pockets 1300 may be formed as external pockets to the inflatable bladder of the activation mechanism. In some embodiments, one or more pockets may be formed as an internal pocket of an inflatable bladder of the activation mechanism.

Preferably, the or each pocket 1300 may include a window to allow visual inspection of the flexible bag 300 received therein. Likewise, the flexible bag 300 may be formed of a transparent material to allow visual inspection of the nutrient supply 200 therein.

In use, the inflatable bladder 1200 of the activation mechanism 1100 may be connected to a pressurized fluid (air or liquid) supply, whereby the pressurized fluid supply may be selectively operated to inflate and deflate the inflatable bladder as desired. As shown in fig. 13A, upon inflation of inflatable bladder 1200, inflatable bladder 1200 applies a compressive force to bag 300. This compressive force causes the bag 300 inches to decrease in size, thereby causing the liquid nutrient supply 200 to drain from the bag 300.

Once the desired amount of liquid nutrient supply 200 is transferred from the flexible bag 300 to the bioreactor 500, the conduit valve is closed to retain and leave the discharged nutrient supply 200 in the bioreactor 500 for a predetermined period of time. The source of compressed air may then be deactivated, allowing inflatable bladder 1200 to at least partially deflate, such that no compressive force is applied to flexible bag 300.

After the predetermined period of time has elapsed, the valve is opened to allow the nutrient supply 200 within the bioreactor 500 to return to the flexible bag 300. In the embodiment shown, the flexible bag 300 is arranged at a position below the level of the floor of the bioreactor 500, such that the nutrient supply 200 can flow freely back to the flexible bag 300 under gravity when the valve is in its open position. For example, nutrient supply 2 may be fed to bioreactor 500 and held therein for 15 minutes every 24 hours. It will be appreciated that the dosing regimen is not limited to this particular example, but rather the dosing regimen can be tailored to suit the characteristics of the relevant plant type being grown and/or the characteristics of the liquid nutrient supply 200.

Thus, the media transport system in its various forms provides a number of unique attributes and advantages. In particular, the medium delivery system enables the nutrient supply container to be replaced by another to provide a replacement and/or to provide a different nutrient to feed to the plant; for example, it may be beneficial to change the variety of nutrients during the growth phase to better suit each stage of plant development. Advantageously, the nutrient container can be easily replaced without the need to carry or otherwise interfere with the stacking of the plates and the plants grown therein. This enables the plants to grow for longer periods of time under controlled aseptic conditions of the tissue culture propagation process. It also reduces the risk of contamination of the plants within the bioreactor and also enables remedial action to be taken to remove certain identified sources of contamination without the need to carry or otherwise interfere with the stacking of the plants and/or plates. Furthermore, in the present system, any contamination that does occur can be controlled by adding a sterilant to the growing medium without the need to carry or move the plants.

A nutrient controller (not shown) may be operatively associated with the media delivery system to facilitate automatic or semi-automatic control of the dosing regimen. In other forms, the media transport system may be manually operated by a user.

Referring now to fig. 15-17, another embodiment of a plant propagation system 50 is shown. This system 50 is particularly advantageous for use in processes for growing stemless plants, particularly by means of Plant Tissue Culture (PTC). As used herein, the term stemless plant should be understood to include plants that typically have little or no stem above ground or soil levels. Stemless plants are sometimes referred to as rosette or rosette type plants.

The plant propagation system includes a tray 51 having a plurality of plant receiving cavities or openings 52 for receiving growing plants 53. In the exemplary embodiment shown, the tray is shown having six plant receiving openings 52. Preferably, each plant receiving opening 52 receives an individual plant 53.

It will be appreciated from the following description of the invention that the tray 52 is not limited to having only six plant receiving openings 52. Rather, in actual commercial use of the present plant propagation system, it will be appreciated that the efficiency of the system increases with the number of plants that can be planted in a single tray 51 and thus with the number of plant receiving openings 52 in the tray 51. The use of six plant receiving openings 52 in the illustrated embodiment is merely to illustrate the concept of the present plant propagation system in a clear manner.

As described in further detail below, the tray 51 is typically placed in a bioreactor (not shown) so as to rest on its floor. Thus, it will be appreciated that by providing an array of plant receiving openings 52, the tray 51 advantageously provides a structure for growing a plurality of plants 53 in an orderly manner, with dedicated locations for each individual plant 53 within the bioreactor.

In the illustrated embodiment, the tray 51 is generally rectangular in shape and has a uniform thickness or height. In some forms, the tray 51 is sized to be closely fittingly received within the bioreactor, thereby facilitating positioning and placement of the tray 51 within the bioreactor in a longitudinal direction, from side to side, or both. In some forms, the tray may include one or more locating formations extending from or associated with the peripheral edge of the tray 51 to facilitate positioning and placement of the tray 51 within the bioreactor.

The size and shape of the plant-receiving opening 52 is preferably selected with reference to the type of plant to be planted therein. In particular, the size and shape of the plant-receiving opening 52 is selected to conform to the natural growth tendency of the individual plants 53. For example, some plant types have a natural tendency to grow in a generally circular or spherical shape, such that trays 51 having plant receiving openings 52 with a circular shape are preferred. Other plant types have a natural tendency to grow along a single axis, such that trays 51 having plant receiving openings 52 of rectangular shape are preferred. It will be understood that the shape of the opening 52 is not limited to the exemplary form described above. While in various embodiments, each opening 52 can be square, triangular, hexagonal, or other suitable polygonal shape.

In the illustrated embodiment, each plant receiving opening 52 is an open-topped opening or cavity. Each open-topped opening or cavity 52 preferably has a perforated floor 4 with one or more openings (not shown) to facilitate feeding liquid nutrient to the root system of a plant 53 planted within the respective opening 52.

In addition, the floor 54 of each plant receiving opening 52 can also assist when the tray 51 needs to be lifted and removed from the bioreactor for further processing; for example, when the plant 52 reaches a predetermined desired stage of growth and development. The bottom plate 54 may abut the underside of each plant 53, thereby stabilizing or limiting the movement of the plant during one or more subsequent further processing steps (e.g., cutting processes).

In this regard, the plant propagation system further comprises a cutting element (not shown) adapted to make at least one cut in each individual plant 53 growing in the tray 51, thereby dividing the plant 53 into two or more smaller sub-plant parts 55.

Once the plant 53 reaches a predetermined stage of development, a cutting process is performed. The developmental stage may be determined based on the period of time the plant 53 is grown in the tray and/or the size of the plant 53 or other relevant characteristics of the plant.

Preferably, the cutting element is configured to evenly cut or divide each plant 53, whereby each cut plant part 55 has substantially the same size. In the embodiment shown in fig. 2, the cutting element is configured to perform a cutting action along two orthogonally arranged cutting lines. The cut lines intersect at a central point of the respective opening 52 in the tray 51. In this embodiment, the cutting element cuts or divides each plant 3 into four smaller plant parts 5 of substantially equal size, or in other words, the cutting element is used to quarter each plant 3.

The manner in which the cutting element cuts or segments each plant may be determined relative to the shape or configuration of the cutting element itself. In some forms, the cutting element is adapted to divide each plant into predetermined smaller plant parts in a single cutting action. In other forms, the cutting element is adapted to divide each plant into predetermined smaller plant parts with two or more cutting actions, strokes or through paths.

For example, where the cutting element is in the form of a blade having a single cutting edge, the cutting element may be used to cut or divide the vegetation in half by a first cutting action, e.g., a downward or descending movement of the blade towards the tray and into each opening or cavity 52. After the first cutting action, in this example, the blade may be rotated relative to the tray (and/or the tray may be rotated relative to the blade) by a predetermined degree or angle (e.g., 90 degrees) such that the cutting element is capable of performing a second cutting action to further divide the plant (e.g., cut each of the half plant parts formed by the first cutting action into quarter plant parts).

In other forms, the cutting element may comprise a blade configured to bisect each plant in a single cutting action or through a path. For example, the blade may be generally t-shaped or plus ("+") shaped, thereby cutting or dividing the plant into four plant parts 55.

The shape and configuration of the cutting element can be adapted to suit a particular application or plant type and/or to cut or segment the plant in a particular manner. In other forms, the cutting element may include be straight-sided, beveled, chamfered, serrated, etc., to enhance its cutting ability in terms of cutting strength (e.g., cutting thicker and/or harder vegetation) and/or roughness of cut/precision (e.g., fine to coarse cutting).

It will be understood that the cutting element is not limited to having a cutting blade shaped according to the above non-limiting exemplary forms provided by way of example only.

The cutting element may include a handle portion extending away from the blade to facilitate manual operation of the cutting element and manual cutting of the plant 53 growing within the tray 51. In certain applications, the cutting element is adapted to be attached to a selectively operable actuator, thereby facilitating automated and semi-automated cutting processes.

In such embodiments, the actuator may be adapted to facilitate movement of the cutting element towards and away from the tray 51, thereby creating a cutting action to cut or divide the individual plants growing within the tray. For example, the actuator is a linear actuator configured to cause a corresponding linear movement (e.g., an upward movement and a downward movement) of the cutting element. In other forms, the actuators may include a first actuator for causing linear positional movement of the cutting element and a second actuator for causing rotational positional movement of the cutting element, thereby facilitating positioning and alignment of the cutting element relative to the tray, and thus, the individual plants planted therein. In some other forms, the cutting element may form an end effector of a robotic arm, whereby the robotic arm is configured to control the movement of the cutting element and thus the associated cutting action, including for example cutting speed, frequency, timing, and the like.

A single cutting element may be used to cut each plant 53 planted within the tray 51. For example, a cutting element may be used to perform a cutting action in each opening 52 of the tray 51 according to a predetermined program (e.g., traversing a first row, then a second row, etc. in sequence). Alternatively, the cutting element is used to perform a cutting action on the plants by reference to a predetermined growth period of each plant or a developmental stage (e.g., size or shape) of each plant.

The cutting element may be adapted to cut a plurality of plants 53 during a single cutting operation. For example, the cutting element may include a plurality of blades arranged in an opposing spaced relationship, wherein the spacing between the blades corresponds to the spacing between the openings in the tray that are desired to be cut simultaneously. With such cutting elements, the blades may be spaced apart such that each plant in the first row of the tray is cut simultaneously. In some exemplary forms, the cutting element may be adapted to simultaneously cut each plant 53 planted within the plant receiving formation of the tray 51.

The plant propagation system preferably comprises a cover (not shown) releasably mounted to or adjacent the upper surface of the tray 51. A cover may be mounted to the tray 51 to restrict or limit the height at which each plant can grow. The cover may be adapted to cut or trim the plants when the cover is removed from the tray such that each trimmed plant has substantially the same height. For example, the lid may be slidably mounted to the tray, whereby upon a sliding action to remove the lid from the tray, the tray shears the plant to trim new shoots that protrude above the height of the lid. In other forms, a dedicated plant trimming device may be provided for trimming the plant to a desired height.

The plant propagation system preferably comprises a plurality of trays 51, wherein a first tray 51 (fig. 1) is used for growing a first batch of plants 53 and a second tray 51' (fig. 3) is used for growing a second batch of plants 53 of plant parts 55 cut from the first batch of plants 53. Other trays can be used to grow additional batches from subsequently cut plant parts.

The taking off of the cut plant parts 55 can be performed as a manual operation, optionally by hand or by means of a dedicated plant gripping mechanism. When using a plant gripping mechanism, the gripping mechanism may be attached to an actuator, such as a linear actuator, a rotary actuator or a robotic arm, to assist in automatically or semi-automatically removing cut plant parts from a tray and subsequently transferring to another tray to restart the growing process.

It is advantageous to hold the cutting element in place within each vegetation receiving opening at the end of the cutting action, while the cut vegetation parts are removed from the cavity 52/tray 51. By keeping the cutting element in this position during removal of a cut plant part, the risk of unintentionally removing another cut plant part during picking is reduced.

It will be appreciated that the plant propagation system can advantageously be used to grow batches of plants in a controlled and repeatable manner. It provides a method by which plants can be cut into uniform sub-plant parts. The ability to easily cut multiple plants into uniformly sized sub-parts at relatively high speed, particularly via automated or semi-automated means, greatly improves the efficiency of the overall plant propagation process based on Plant Tissue Culture (PTC). This is mainly due to the ability to reduce the cutting time per plant and the time to transfer and re-plant (e.g., in another tray) the cut plant parts to repeat the growth cycle. The homogeneous nature of the sub-parts cut out also enhances the possible success or survival rate of planting these sub-plant parts to the desired developmental stage. This process can be repeated to continue the growth cycle.

Thus, the present disclosure provides, in its various forms, a number of unique attributes and advantages, including the ability to maintain multiple plant tissue cultures in clearly defined, regularly spaced locations within a bioreactor, greatly increasing the efficiency of producing clonal cuttings. The ability of the system to allow multiple cuts in a single cutting operation brings the benefit of being able to produce a greater number of cuts in a set period of time. The ability to produce significantly more cuttings in a given period of time advantageously allows for significant reduction in operational costs, including labor costs, thereby reducing the cost per cutting produced under plant tissue culture propagation.

Furthermore, as noted above, the system enables the nutrient supply container to be replaced by another to provide a replacement and/or to provide a different nutrient to feed to the plant; for example, it may be beneficial to change the variety of nutrients during the growth phase to better suit each stage of plant development.

The system is also highly adaptable in the ability to be configured for use with upstream and downstream automated equipment associated with the culturing and harvesting processes, further increasing overall operating efficiency and reducing costs associated with plant tissue culture production. In this regard, another advantage of a preferred embodiment of the present disclosure is to provide a system that can deliver PTCs in a form that is compatible with existing greenhouse automation equipment and reduces labor requirements. More specifically, embodiments of the present disclosure advantageously enable trays containing plants that have reached a predetermined developmental stage in a bioreactor to be transferred directly from the bioreactor to a greenhouse or outdoor environment in the same tray. That is, the plants can be left in the original trays rather than transferred to new trays, thereby reducing processing time and hence the associated labor costs. This particular advantage results from the use of a liquid medium or nutrient supply at the initial stage of growth within the bioreactor. After the trays are transferred to a greenhouse or outdoor environment, the plants can grow to a fully functional plant stage and can be operated using existing equipment, including automated equipment. Here, it is advantageous to provide each tray with connectors that facilitate connecting multiple trays in a side-by-side and/or end-to-end manner to efficiently produce larger combined trays that are sized to be carried from a sterile environment (e.g., a laboratory) to a non-sterile environment (e.g., a greenhouse or outdoor environment) via existing (automated) equipment and other associated processing equipment.

Thus, it will be appreciated that the system is inherently capable of rendering propagation of plant tissue cultures more cost effective than the prior art, and in some cases comparable to the costs associated with seeding techniques.

In these and other aspects, the systems and methods described herein represent a practical and commercially significant improvement over existing systems. Although the present disclosure has been described with reference to specific examples, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the systems and methods described herein may be embodied in many other forms.

Claims

1. A plant propagation system, comprising:

a holder for holding at least two plants in a relatively spaced relationship, thereby enabling a predetermined cutting operation to be performed on each plant within the holder during a single pass.

2. A plant propagation system according to claim 1, wherein the cutting operation is performed on at least two plants within the holder substantially simultaneously.

3. A plant propagation system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the holder comprises a tray having a plurality of openings, each opening of the plurality of openings being configured to receive at least a portion of one of the at least two plants.

4. A plant propagation system according to claim 3, wherein the plurality of openings in each tray are arranged in a regular array or an irregular array.

5. A plant propagation system as claimed in claim 3 or 4, wherein the holder comprises two or more trays, the trays being stackable to form a stack of trays.

6. A plant propagation system according to claim 5, comprising a cutting mechanism configured to perform a cutting operation between a pair of trays in the stack.

7. A plant propagation system according to claim 6, wherein the cutting mechanism comprises a hand-held cutting tool for manually cutting the at least two plants.

8. A plant propagation system according to claim 7, wherein the cutting tool comprises a cutting element adapted to be slidably received between a respective pair of adjacent trays to perform a lateral cutting operation on the at least two plants.

9. A plant propagation system according to claim 1, wherein the cutting tool comprises a cutting element adapted to make at least one vertical cut in the at least two plants, thereby dividing the plant into two or more plant parts.

10. A plant propagation system as claimed in any one of claims 3 to 9, further comprising a container having a base portion with an open top for releasably receiving a stack of trays therein and a cover portion releasably attached around the open top of the base portion thereby closing the container.

11. A plant propagation system according to claim 10 including a medium delivery system for selectively supplying a nutrient supply to the container.

12. A plant propagation system according to claim 11, wherein the medium delivery system is a pressure feed system.

13. A plant propagation system according to claim 11 or 12, wherein the medium delivery system comprises a nutrient container for holding a supply of a predetermined amount of nutrients; and

14. A plant propagation system according to claim 13, wherein the nutrient container is flexible, wherein the activation mechanism is capable of selectively deforming the nutrient container to cause the nutrient supply to flow from the nutrient container to the container via a supply line.

15. A plant propagation system as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, further comprising a carrier for sterile handling of the tray or stack of trays.